Posture for organists
  • Gawain
    Posts: 1
    I am becoming increasingly concerned that may posture when playing is far from ideal. I note that there was a discussion in 2010 about this issue and I wonder there has been any resolution to the problem and whether there is some helpful advice available.
    Thanked by 1roy2
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 539
    You might find this talk a good place to start. https://www.lister-sinkinstitute.org/tedx/ Barbara Lister-Sink was at the top of the concert piano world in the 70s until she was injured due to bad use. She then began seriously studying the development of keyboard technique and how it is that certain pianists (Horowitz, for example) could play perfectly into 80s, and others were out of commission by 30. She has tried to combine insights from objective and technological studies of the body with Alexander technique with the way keyboard technique was taught in the 20th and preceding centuries, and her work is even more important for organists, who use (and therefore tend to injure) more of their bodies. Several of her students now offer instructions to organists, and I for one can say my career was saved in this way.
  • Torculus
    Posts: 44
    You might also want to consider "What Every Pianist Needs to Know About the Body with Supplementary Material for Organists" by Thomas Mark, Roberta Gary and Thom Miles, published by GIA. It includes information and exercises specific to the organ. This is important because the postural problems developed by organists are often different from those developed by pianists. I have found the book to be very helpful. There is a DVD available, too. But the DVD is all about the piano; it doesn't include anything specific to the organ.
  • PolskaPiano
    Posts: 255
    I was lucky that our dean in the music school was a student and proponent of the Alexander technique. I used to have to lay on the floor to relieve the pain after practicing piano. Learning better posture was a game changer. Google will be your friend here. I teach even my young piano students the basic "marionette" trick where you pull a string up from your head to bring the spine into place. Good luck. It is no fun to be in pain while you play. Personally, I struggle with knee pain using the pedals, so I may have to brush up to see if they have anything to say about that as well.
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